Getting Clean
by dumpweed
Summary: Adam is spiraling downwards into a world of heavy drugs and alcohol, and Amanda is the only person left that can be bothered to deal with him, too many nights of coming home wasted and using all the hot water might just cause her to snap.
1. Chapter 1

Typical, 4 AM Saturday morning and yet again Adam literally hasn't got a leg to stand on, ever since his sister kicked him out he has barely left my apartment spending his free time eating my food, using my hot water and most of all pissing off my neighbors due to his incapability to handle alcohol.

At first I was just doing him a favor, at one point back in high school we were close friends but of course he got kicked out for poor attendance, after he left we never spoke again in fact I hadn't spoken to him since until a couple of months ago. It was Amy's 21st and somehow we ended up at Xquisite strip club. Amy was a couple years older than me and I shouldn't have even been there in the first place but these days it's guaranteed that at least one in five of the people I know will be able to hook me up with a fake ID.

I didn't know what to expect, well of course I expected sexually aroused females and naked men but I'd never been to a strip club, never wanted to. It wasn't my scene, these women were wild they threw themselves at whichever male was close enough. It was fun for a while we had a laugh until I saw him, it took me a little while to register that it was actually Adam Wilson dancing half naked on the stage of the most notorious strip club around. The situation was so surreal that I found myself laughing uncontrollably, then he caught my eye.

I started muttering to myself in the hopes he hadn't noticed me when I knew fully well that he had, I must have caught him off guard because I remember the rest of his routine being pretty shit in fact I'm sure he tripped, but the show carried on as normal it wasn't until after that we reunited. As as we were leaving he called after me, we got chatting and I ended up going to some lame, dull party. He told me his almost comical story of how he landed the job and eventually we agreed to keep in touch which we did, just not how I had imagined.

It started off slowly first we'd meet for coffee then he'd come round to my place. I lived alone so I hardly had a reason to object to him coming over now and again. So in the space of just two months it was just like old times we ended up spending a lot of time together, between his work and my excessive studying our friendship became the perfect haven.

Although a lot of people thought it we weren't romantically involved. Brooke didn't care she was just happy to have more time and space to herself. I wouldn't go as far as saying that things were great or perfect, Adam in the past had already showed signs of a drinking problem and balancing two jobs with under ten hours of sleep per night had started to take it's toll on him.

He started asking for money, nothing too massive just 15 dollars or so which I could hardly afford since working part time at taco bell didn't exactly cover all of the bills but there was a desperation in his eyes that I couldn't say no to so I lent him some money unaware that my hard earned cash was feeding his drug addiction.

Every time I asked about it or tried to subtly bring it into conversation he'd shut me out or shrug the question off. If I had refused him money he looked as if he'd throw a fit, he was a time bomb waiting to go off. That's when things started to turn sour, he seemed to constantly need money, just a few dollars here and there as if earning an average of 300 dollars per night wasn't enough to cover substantial needs.

Brooke kicked him out she'd had enough and if I'm honest I couldn't blame her Adam had taken advantage for far too long he failed to pay rent nearly every month and lived like a pig so Adam started crashing at Mike's who after a short while told him where to go. Mike was trying hard to make a professional career for himself and having a nineteen year old boy high on coke and ecstasy for the majority of every day wasn't helping so he showed him the door which led him to my door. First it was a week on the sofa then it progressed until every item he owned was shoved into my apartment, bear in mind that my place has one bedroom, not much of a kitchen and a bathroom with a 5ft height limit.

Within a few more weeks he treated the place as his own. He had a growing lack of respect for himself or anybody around him and I knew that one of these says he was going to take it too far with no hope of getting back.

"Hey Amanda, Amanda! You Awake? Open up, Amanda!" I recognized the voice of a half drunk Mike pounding against the door. What had happened this time.

"Calm the fuck down, I'm coming Jesus Christ Mike you'll take off my door" I shouted pushing the door open to see Adam slumped on the floor in a heap.

I sighed inwardly, this is the second time this has happened this week and I can't help but worry even though every time this happens he gets over it, he gets up in the morning and gets on with his life I worry in case one day he doesn't get up.

"Shit again? Why do you let him get in this state Mike? How come it's always him?" I know that I shouldn't have been attacking him like that, he can't be blamed for Adam's carelessness but I was so sick and tired of cleaning up after him but I can't just wipe my hands with him, if he wasn't my responsibility he'd have no one the boy can barely tie his shoe laces.

Mike only argued back for a couple of minutes before dragging Adam to his makeshift bed on the sofa then he left just as quick as he'd entered.

"Adam, look at me, you need to be sick?" I shouted trying to slap him into consciousness. He started groaning and whining like a five year old child mumbling about how the room was too bright.

"Fuck it I'm done with this Adam it's like talking to a brick wall 24/7. You need to get your act together I won't be here forever to clean up your shit."

And his only response was to vomit all over the floor. Complete brick wall.

I gave in like I always do, as crude as it sounds I'd clean up his vomit every night if it meant keeping him safe but I couldn't look after him all the time, I couldn't stop him taking pill after pill until he passed out. I didn't want to control him so I let him get on with it. In the position I was in all I could do was provide him a roof over his head and central heating and hope that sooner or later he'd come to his senses.


	2. Chapter 2

It was late afternoon by the time I'd woken up, Adam was still passed out in his usual spot.

Today was the day I was going to put him straight, I was growing impatient and tired of his childish tendencies and it wasn't fair for him to keep doing this night after night. I was going to offer him an ultimatum.

"Adam wake up come on get up." I shouted nudging him and waiting for any sign of life.

"I'm up." he muttered rolling around and sinking further into the sofa.

Now I know how my mom felt all those years she had to wake me up for school.

"Seriously get up I need to talk you."

"Give me a minute okay?"

"Whatever just hurry up it's nearly 3 o clock." I snapped leaving the room so he could make himself presentable.

After I'd showered and dressed I tried to plan the best way of approaching this as the outcome could go either ways. If I said something that he didn't like he could just snap, lose it completely. Conversing with him was like walking on eggshells.

When I walked back into the front room he'd barely moved except that he was now sitting upright clutching his head with hands.

I sighed sitting down in the space next to him. He moved his hand to my knee and pinched the bridge of his nose as if to say 'yes I know I've fucked up, it won't happen again'.

"Adam you've got to stop this, you're out of control." I said quietly more to myself than to him.

"You're overreacting again." And from that statement I could tell that he'd gone into defence mode he did this whenever anyone tried to tell him what to do or how to be.

"Would you just look at yourself for a moment? Adam you can't live like this, you're not even living all you do is sniff and strip yo-""

"All I do is sniff and strip? Is that what you think of me? Huh?" His voice was so loud he was almost shouting. I'd tried to speak with him and I'd already blown it. Nice choice of words Amanda, real nice.

"I didn't mean it like that."

"I know perfectly well what you meant I'm happy you think of me so highly." He shot back. He did not have the right to be in a mood with me.

"Well what the fuck do you expect? You're sleeping on my sofa in my apartment using my electricity using my hot water. You come back wasted every night, do you think my neighbors haven't complained? I'm still in college what am I meant to do if I get kicked out? And on top of it all I'm worried sick about you I can't sleep not knowing if you're safe worried that you might have OD'ed or I can't go to bed because you haven't got a key. I want you to stop the drugs or get out. You don't even pay rent and you've been living here for nearly two months!" I was enraged with him I knew that I was on the verge of tears and that made me feel so pathetic getting worked up about something so small such as rent payments.

"Look, I'm sorry I'll start paying rent."

It was a start, it was kind of stupid making him pay rent to sleep on the sofa but what else could I do.

"I want you to go the hospital as well, just for a check up I need to know that you're okay, that you're not going to have a fit or a brain haemorrhage in the middle of the night." I was pushing my luck by asking him to do that I know it sounded over the top and too dramatic but I couldn't handle it if something were to happen to him.

"No."

"Please just once it'll be brief just to make sure you okay."

"Are you fucking insane? I can't just walk into the hospital and have them look me over. Do you really think they'll just let me walk out of their knowing I'm a drug addict?"

"So you admit you're an addict?"

"Just leave it will you? I'm fine." He demanded, at this point all I could do was leave it. I should have left it but I was too determined to get through to him.

"How can you be fine? You're wired for at least 12 hours everyday. Do you think all this shit you're doing isn't going to have an effect on you?"

"Just leave it, God you're like my fucking mom."

"Maybe somebody needs to act like your mom, this is your life we're talking about here. I'm not telling you to clean your room or pick up your dirty laundry I'm trying to help you. I just want you to take it easy for a while." I argued back. I felt like punching him square in the face.

"I'm going out." was his only response, I doubt he was even listening to what I was saying.

"You know what, don't bother coming back." I screamed at him, I felt like we were a married couple having our first argument and I immediately regretted saying those words to him and I wanted to take it back so bad but he was already up throwing some new clothes on, 10 minutes later he was gone. I couldn't even call him because he hadn't taken his phone. Adam wasn't the type of person to take a few minutes out to calm down and think things over, he was the type to act irrationally and reckless. Whenever he was in a mood it was best just to leave him to his own devices.

The rest of my day was more or less uneventful I got through a few overdue essays for college, tidied up and watched mind numbing TV shows, I wanted something to take my mind off Adam so badly.

It was midnight and I hadn't heard from him all day, he was never home too late on a Sunday since he had the night off work and there wasn't many parties. Just to put my mind at ease I rang Mike.

"Mike? Hey, yeah I'm just wondering if Adam is with you?"

"Oh hey Amanda!" Mike slurred down the line I could tell that he wasn't going to be very helpful.

"Yeah Mike is Adam with you?"

"Sure he's here, wanna speak with him?" he said laughing I could hardly hear him with all the noise in the background.

"No, no don't do that it's fine I just wanted to make sure that he's with you keep an eye on him for me okay?"

"Yep sure will do okay I gotta go ther-"

Then the line went dead, knowing that Adam was there was reassuring enough for me to get some sleep. Mike was a reasonably responsible person more so than me or any of my friends but in the last year or so I'd became so mature and sensible I didn't even feel like me any more all the weight of college and 10 paged essays per night had changed my way of thinking completely. I really needed to loosen up a little.

I'd been having a fairly decent sleep but there had been an unbelievably irritating sound bothering me for what felt like hours it was only until the third time round that I realized the siren like sound was my phone.

"Fuck what, hello what I'm here." my voice sounded inhuman as I managed to hold the phone to my ear knocking off everything that was on my bedside table in the process.

"Shit Amanda thank god you need to get down here now it's Adam." It was Mike, he sounded like he was hyperventilating.

"Mike calm down what has happened?"

"Man I don't know he was fine I mean he was totally fucking fine and then the next minute he was on the floor I think he had a fit or a seizure is that what you call it? I called an ambulance it's on its way shit will you just get down here now?" He was talking so fast I could barely make any sense of what he was saying.

"Whe- Where are you?"

"My place just get here now."

By now I was freaking out if I left now I'd be at Mike's in less than five minutes the fact that the ambulance wouldn't be there for another 10 at least.

It was only 6 AM so traffic wouldn't be too bad, I was dressed in 30 seconds and out the door. My car was a piece of crap a disgusting shade of green and half decayed. It couldn't fit more than 4 people and getting it to start wasn't simple either.

"Stupid piece of shit." I shouted slamming my fists on the wheel, now was not the time.

After a minute long one sided screaming match the engine finally kicked in.

I'm surprised I didn't crash I had never really experienced road rage until today until every traffic light I came to was red. It was twelve minutes past 6 when I arrived and I couldn't see or hear the ambulance unless it had already came. Mike was already outside waiting tapping his foot and slightly shaking.

"Mike where is he did the ambulance come." I questioned hurrying out of the car and towards him.

"No come on it still hasn't- fuck Amanda fuck this is all my fault."

"Just calm it okay I'm going up." I said putting my hands on his shoulders I could tell that he was still half wired on something which really didn't help the situation at all.

"Adam"

"Amanda in here." I should have guessed that Dallas would be there I hated myself for thinking it but I wanted it to be his fault it usually was since he was always offering and selling new drugs. I just wanted someone else to blame other than myself.

"Dallas how is he, shit his face." I stated kneeling down beside him. He was laying down on the floor he looked to be unconscious but I could hear a slight mumbling, the right side of his face was covered in what looked to be a burn.

"It's carpet burn, he was shakin' so much we couldn't put something underneath his head to stop it." he said in his thick accent it's the first time I'd heard him sound worried or even scared. He looked pretty shaken up too I wish I had been here when it had happened I know that I probably couldn't have prevented it but I still feel like I'd let him down.

I didn't say much more just asked the basics like how long ago and what did he take. I didn't know if he could hear me or not but I kept on talking to him and holding onto him as if I might lose him forever if I let go.

By the time the paramedics came in I was sobbing Dallas had to pull me off him to let them take him downstairs.

"Come on baby let them do their job he's gonna be fine." He said putting his arm around me but I wasn't just going to stay here and wait.

"No I wanna come with him, can I come in the ambulance?" I asked running after the paramedics wiping my face with my sleeves trying to calm myself down.

The ambulance ride was awful people were poking and prodding him hooking things up to him asking me questions I was unable to answer. Dallas had already told them what he had taken but now they were asking me all sorts of shit like 'Is this the first time this has happened? Has he taken drugs before? Does he have a family history of epilepsy?' After what felt like hours of shaking or nodding my head we arrived at the hospital it wasn't as dramatic as the movies but just as intense.

After they took him away I was shoved in a waiting room for the next hour until Dallas and Mike showed up and then as if on cue a doctor walked up to us.

"You're Adam Wilson's friends right?" he asked looking at his clipboard.

"Is he okay?" Mike asked thankfully he had sobered up by now.

"He's fine well, he's fine for now, we've just ran some tests we'll get back to you on that. Bottom line is this can't happen again his body reacted very badly to what he took this means no drinking, no drugs, nothing. He should be able to leave later on today we just need to make sure he's stable enough to leave. Oh you can go see him now, down that corridor second room on the left." He said pointing behind him.

"Someone needs to call Brooke, she'll be devastated." I said as we were walking, Mike pulled out his phone and said he'd catch us up.

"Hey" I almost whispered sitting down next to Adam.

He said nothing just sighed took my hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze letting me know that he was okay, that he wasn't mad at me I was so worried that he'd still be angry.

I rested my head on his shoulder in the most awkward position from where I was sitting next to him I didn't want to put any weight on him. I wondered if this was a big enough wake up call for him if he'd finally see what he was doing to himself. Although the circumstances we were in were far from good I finally felt relaxed just sitting there in silence with him knowing that he was going to be okay I finally felt that he might start getting better.


End file.
